With MobileIron and Box, our healthcare professionals can securely and efficiently collaborate with other providers both inside and outside our network to better serve our patients. That not only increases the quality of patient care we provide, it helps reduce our IT costs as well.

Chuck Koet,
IT Manager, St. Joseph Health

St. Joseph Health (SJH) provides a full range of healthcare services throughout California and Texas. Its facilities include 16 acute care hospitals, home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing, community clinics, and physician groups. Its healthcare delivery model is designed to provide a complete continuum of care to a diverse range of communities, from large urban centers to rural areas that depend on SJH for all of their healthcare needs.

Mobility is key to serving patients wherever they live, which is why SJH chose MobileIron and Box to provide an integrated, secure collaboration platform for thousands of iOS and Android devices across its entire healthcare network. By enabling caregivers access to secure mobile apps wherever they work — in a hospital, outpatient facility, or in a patient’s home — MobileIron and Box help SJH dramatically improve quality and efficiency of care.

The challenge: Securing mobile content and collaboration

After the successful deployment of MobileIron on iPhone and iPad devices, SJH wanted to expand its mobile program by providing access to secure content in the cloud. Traditional file sharing systems such as file servers, on-premises document management services, and unsanctioned file sharing tools were neither secure nor effective. SJH needed a solution that allowed employees to share files and collaborate freely but that could also meet strict compliance requirements. Employees often relied on unsecured forms of file sharing, such as USB drives, personal file sharing services, and email attachments to send and update documents.

MobileIron + Box enable secure healthcare content in the cloud

SJH looked to MobileIron and Box to provide a platform that made it easy for healthcare workers to share and update patient records and administrative documents. In addition to simplifying access, the solution meets rigorous HIPAA compliance standards.

The SJH team started by integrating Box into its three main portals: Staff Hub, Clinical Hub, and Patient Hub. These portals are used as intranets by internal staff, with Box linking important documents within them. The IT team automatically configures and deploys MobileIron and Box on employee mobile devices, leveraging the Apple Device Enrollment Program (DEP) and secures the app on devices using Box for EMM with MobileIron.

“With MobileIron and Box, we’ve experienced tremendous gains in IT productivity,” said Koet. “We can get devices configured within 15 minutes down from 2 hours and users can start working right away. We don't have to explain to each associate how to log in to each device; it’s all very intuitive.”

Although most of the 4,500 devices are corporate-owned, about 800 are owned by the employees. On these devices, MobileIron enables SJH to separate personal and business apps and data. Employees can still access personal apps without putting EMM-managed patient healthcare data at risk.

Transforming the way healthcare professionals serve patients

“MobileIron and Box have dramatically improved our workflow processes by increasing efficiency across every department. We get all our data in real-time, anywhere, from any device, which we couldn’t do before.” said Chuck Koet, IT manager at St. Joseph Health. “For example, one of our executive assistants needed to send some time-critical documentation to a physician while on vacation. We had just secured Box on her device with MobileIron, and she was thrilled to discover how easy it was to pull up that document and share it. Without MobileIron and Box, there would have been no way for her to access it outside of the office.”

In addition to secure file sharing, MobileIron and Box enable healthcare professionals to minimize how many devices they have to carry. Doctors and executives no longer have to tote around bulky laptops to access critical apps and files. Now they carry an iPad or iPhone to access everything they need on the go, so they can stay connected outside of the office. Physicians can even speak directly with patients through the MDLIVE app that enables secure mobile communication between physicians and patients.

Results: Simplifying secure access to healthcare data

Together, MobileIron and Box enable SJH to centralize data onto a single, secure, and easy-to-access content management platform. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest to ensure confidential data is always secure. And by meeting rigorous HIPAA compliance requirements, no additional solution was needed to meet their compliance needs. It also supports robust access permissions and audit trails to ensure protection of their content and intellectual property.

MobileIron and Box also empower SJH to easily create secure and collaborative workspaces with external parties. Physicians, vendors, and other partners are able to upload files and communicate faster improving the level of care to patients. For example, not all EMTs are employees of SJH and may use a mobile device issued through another company. However, the SJH Box solution allows these EMTs to share content in a secure Box folder. In an emergency, an EMT can send images and details of the patient’s symptoms, and vital signs to the hospital as a secure transfer through Box. This enables the hospital to prepare for the patient with as much notice as possible so the right staff and equipment can be ready when the patient arrives.

What’s next?

SJH is expanding its healthcare network to include more home healthcare and hospice clinics. To support these new facilities, SJH is deploying an additional 1,000 iPads with Box, secured by MobileIron. In addition, SJH is evaluating technologies to reduce the “toolbelt” of devices that nurses must carry on their rounds. Instead of carrying a phone, tablet, pager, and other devices, they will be able to carry just one Android device secured by MobileIron.

“MobileIron and Box have helped us greatly close security gaps and minimize our risk. The solutions are easy for us to manage and for our healthcare staff to use, so they can focus on treating patients. Staff don’t have to carry multiple devices and our IT team can sleep at night knowing that patient data is securely managed,” said Koet.